Okamoto Mitsunari (岡本三成), the newly elected leader of Japan's Komeito Party, revealed that he is a third-generation Korean resident in Japan who acquired Japanese citizenship around the time of his university graduation.
According to Kyodo News, Okamoto explained to reporters on October 5 at the National Diet, "As I take on the role of party leader, I wanted to share as much as I could about my background." He cited online defamation regarding his nationality as a reason for his disclosure.
On October 3, the day he was elected as leader, Okamoto shared his background on his YouTube channel. When asked by the host, "There are rumors online that you are not Japanese, is that true?" he responded, "I am a Japanese citizen with Japanese nationality," and added, "I was born in Saga Prefecture in 1965 as a third-generation Korean resident in Japan."
Okamoto stated that his grandparents moved from Korea to Japan and had passed away before he was born. He attended public elementary, middle, and high schools in Saga Prefecture before going on to university in Tokyo.
Regarding his decision to acquire Japanese citizenship, Okamoto said, "I feel like a Japanese person and have lived normally among Japanese people. I really love Japan and wanted to live here, so I obtained Japanese nationality around the time I graduated from university."
When asked if he could speak Korean, he replied, "Unfortunately, I cannot." He explained that his parents also do not speak Korean, which is why he does not either. He first visited Korea in his late 30s for a business trip while working at Goldman Sachs and has since made three or four visits.
Okamoto was elected as the successor to former leader Takeya Toshiko on October 3. The Komeito Party ended its 26-year coalition with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) last October, citing insufficient reforms to political funding issues. Following this, Komeito and the Constitutional Democratic Party formed a center-reform coalition that faced a significant defeat in the February general election. After discussions to merge the center-reform coalition, the Constitutional Democratic Party, and Komeito fell through, 28 Komeito lawmakers returned to the party last month. Currently, Komeito has 28 members in the House of Representatives and 21 in the House of Councillors.
Kyodo News reported that Komeito has restructured its leadership following the return of the House members and is working to regain its strength ahead of next spring's local elections and the 2028 House of Councillors election. According to Jiji Press, Okamoto stated on September 30, when he was appointed as leader, that he has no intention of forming a coalition government with the LDP again.
Okamoto was born in Doshi, Saga Prefecture, in 1965 and graduated from Soka University in 1989. After working at Citibank, he earned an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management in 1998 and entered politics after working at Goldman Sachs. He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2012 and has since served as a six-term lawmaker, holding positions such as Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs and Deputy Minister of Finance, as well as chairing the Komeito and center-reform coalition's political affairs committee.
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.